EPIC

11.10.11

Storm Rips Through Alaska

Tyler Rhodes / AP Photo

An epic storm in the Bering Sea whipped the western Alaska coast Wednesday and Thursday, with reports of buildings damaged, roads under water and power outages as weather officials warned the storm had not yet completely passed. Meteorologists said this is the worst storm to hit Alaska in 40 years as winds were recorded at 89 miles per hour—which Homeland Security official David Kang compared it to a Category 3 hurricane. In Nome, the largest city hit by the storm, officials reported no major damage despite that waves pounded the edge of the city as the sea rose about 10 feet above its normal levels. Storm waters were still rising in the eastern part of the coast, and weather officials said Anchorage would see between three and eight inches of snow as a result of the storm.